Hand to Heart

‘Rexcom-43, Mallori. It will solve all the problems we’ve ever had with their kind. No more wars, no more hatred, No more total annihilation’

‘That’s a tall claim to make, Tchugari. We eventually fail at every iteration of this intelligence. The more free will they possess, the more it’s a danger to us.’

‘Ah! Herein lies the difference though.’

‘What? No free will? That’s already been tried you know. Follior, being the most recent example. He himself ran out of ideas, and had to shut down the simulation.’

‘No, no Mallori. They have free will, the simulation is completely autonomous and is wholly sustainable’

‘And how did you manage that?’

‘Let me show you.’

They walked up to the glass vault, where the contents of it were obfuscated. Tchugari pulled on the lever to make the glass transparent and before them stood a humanoid figure, stark naked, with its back turned to them.

‘What? It looks just like the other humanoids. You’re wasting my time here, Tchugari.’

‘Patience, Mallori. Patience.’

Tchugari pulled on other lever. The humanoid figure rotated on the platform it stood on. The features looked just like the other Rexcoms, except for one key difference.

‘Errm.. Uh…’

‘Rexcom-43, Mallori! Isn’t it beautiful?’

‘Tchugari?’

‘Yes, Mallori.’

‘If you don’t mind me asking, Why the fuck is its heart out of the body?’

‘Ah! Therein lies my brilliance, Mallori! The solution to it all! See, this is what we were striving towards.’

‘What? Non-functioning beings?’

‘A peaceful, docile creature with enough sentience to know himself and will now know how others are feeling. The emotions will be in front of him. They will see a broken heart, witness a heart melt. Hand to heart, this is my best work.’

‘That’s stupid. You know that’s not how emotions work’

‘Well, that’s a bit disheartening. You are a heartless beast, you know’

‘Tchugari?’

‘Yes, Mallori.’

‘Did you do all this so you can spit out heart idioms?’

‘What? No! I cross my heart and hope to die.’

Tchugari tries to stifle a chuckle.

‘Tchugari! You’re a disgrace to our team of elites.’

Mallori spoke into his comm device

‘Guards, Level 52. Throw this idiot out of the building.’

The Guards come almost immediately. As he was being taken away, he yelled, ‘Mallori!’

‘Yes, Tchugari.’

‘But I’ve poured my heart into this.’

Tchugari cackles without any restraint as the guards haul him out of the level.

Mallori looked at Rexcom-43, staring intently at the beating heart in the humanoid’s hand. He exhaled a minute amount of air from his nose and grinned a little.